Foodology Feeding Therapy
See the feeding skill. See the developmental gap.
Assess functional feeding age, reflexes, suck mechanics, tethered oral tissue, postural and sensory regulation, structural findings, and gut/GI comfort in one guided workbook—with an automatic 5-point clinical synthesis.
Get the Infant Assessment for $97
An infant finding only matters when you know what it means at this age.
- Development moves quickly.Jaw instability, tongue thrusting, or limited head control may be expected at one age and a meaningful flag at another.
- One feeding can generate dozens of observations.Suck, reflexes, posture, regulation, structure, gut symptoms, and airway safety are easy to document separately and difficult to synthesize.
- “Over-responsive” is not enough guidance.You need concrete cues for what under-response, over-response, and organized regulation actually look like during feeding.
- Families need a clear clinical picture.A list of findings does not explain which skills are intact, which need support, and what should happen next.
This tool connects each observation to corrected or developmental age, feeding function, and the next clinical decision.
Try rating one item.
Every suck item defines what typical, mildly atypical, and significantly atypical performance looks like. Choose the closest clinical pattern below.
Seven clinical sections. One whole-child feeding picture.
Oral Motor & Feeding Ladder
Functional feeding age
Tracks observed skills from early liquid feeding through mature cup, straw, chewing, and utensil skills.
Reflex Profile
Age-linked expectations
Compares nine primitive and oral reflexes to the infant’s current developmental window and flags safety concerns.
Suck Assessment
NNS and NS mechanics
Defines typical, mildly atypical, and significantly atypical performance for each suck parameter.
Tethered Oral Tissue
Appearance and function
Guides structured screening of lingual frenulum appearance, functional movement, length class, and lip tie.
Postural, Sensory & ANS
Regulation in context
Documents cervical movement, postural control, sensory response, autonomic state, and seated positioning/stability during feeding (the 90–90–90 reference).
Structural & Mechanical Findings
Expected versus atypical
Covers posture and respiration, jaw, lips, tongue, cheeks, and facial structure with item-specific age guidance.
Gut & GI
Reflux signs + red flags
Pairs reflux/regulation signs observed on exam with a case-history checklist for GI distress, constipation, formula history, and food-sensitivity reactions—so gut comfort gets weighed alongside oral motor and structural findings, not treated as a separate issue.
Cross-checks the reflex exam against coughing and wet/gurgly vocal quality documented elsewhere, so one typical-looking reflex finding can't quietly close the airway-safety question on its own.
Checks seating/positioning and trunk or jaw stability before chewing and lateralization goals get prioritized—an unsupported base pulls effort away from oral motor work.
Pulls suck mechanics, the feeding ladder, tongue-tie screening, and jaw/tongue structural findings into one read on suck, chew, and swallow.
Reads autonomic state—social engagement, sympathetic stress, or shutdown—during feeding and handling.
Combines reflux/regulation signs observed on exam with a case-history checklist for GI distress, constipation, formula history, and food-sensitivity reactions.
The 5 Basics: one synthesis that connects the whole feeding picture.
Ties, seating, oral motor skill, regulation, and gut comfort don’t sit in separate silos—a tongue-tie finding, an unsupported seat, and a reactive formula can all be part of the same profile. The 5 Basics cross-reference every domain tab into five plain clinical questions, flag what needs attention, and suggest a priority order for goals—while referral and goal wording stay yours to write.
A dashboard that turns observations into priorities.
The workbook pulls every section into one summary with functional feeding age, developmental gap, domain status, the 5 Basics synthesis, and space for strengths, primary concerns, safety or referral flags, next steps, and your overall clinical impression.
Early lateral jaw movement can appear as chewing emerges. Flag persistent, excessive, asymmetric, or functionally disruptive sliding beyond what is expected for the infant’s corrected age and feeding experience.
A young infant needs external support. Mark the finding when instability is greater than expected for corrected age, persists despite appropriate support, or disrupts safe feeding alignment.
Developmental guidance belongs with the item.
Instead of relying on one broad note at the top of a tab, each relevant finding explains what can be expected during normal development and what becomes atypical for that specific skill.
Know what under- and over-response look like.
The Postural, Sensory & ANS section gives concrete observation cues rather than repeating the name of the response. It helps you document what happened, under what conditions, and whether the infant could recover.
Structural findings include the clinical comparison.
Each structural or mechanical item pairs the finding with clear expected-versus-atypical guidance, so the clinician knows what to observe and when the finding is meaningful.
Type in the workbook without disturbing the scoring engine.
Clinicians can complete dropdowns, enter notes, and save a separate copy for each client. Formula cells are protected to reduce accidental edits while the clinical input areas remain available.
Everything included
Guided assessment tabs
Seven structured clinical sections with dropdowns, notes fields, and item-level observation guidance.
Automatic dashboard
Functional feeding age, developmental gap, domain results, and the 5 Basics—a 5-question clinical synthesis covering airway safety, seating/stability, oral motor function, nervous system regulation, and gut comfort—in one view.
Visual scoring key
A quick reference to status colors, rating choices, domain logic, and safety overrides.
Read Me guide
Clear setup instructions, scoring explanations, corrected-age guidance, and use notes.
License and terms
Plain-language permitted use, single-clinician limits, recordkeeping, and team-license requirements.
11-page Parent Case History Form
A fully editable Word document (.docx). Customize it with your practice name and send it to families before the evaluation.
Made for infant feeding clinicians
- Pediatric SLPs who evaluate infant feeding and swallowing
- OTs and other licensed clinicians whose training and scope include infant feeding
- Clinicians who want clearer age-based observation anchors
- Clinicians who want stronger documentation, care planning, and referral decisions
This is a criterion-referenced clinical framework, not a standardized or norm-referenced test. Use it with case history, direct observation, medical information, and professional judgment within your scope of practice.
Created by Christine Miroddi Yoder, MA, SLP
Christine is the founder of Foodology Feeding Therapy, a pediatric feeding therapy and coaching practice, and the author of Mealtime Mindset: How Changing Your Mindset Changes Mealtimes.
She built this tool to help clinicians connect infant development, oral-motor function, regulation, structure, and feeding safety without piecing together multiple disconnected forms.
One workbook for the hands-on infant feeding evaluation.
- Birth–36 month Excel assessment with six clinical sections
- Functional feeding age and corrected-age gap calculations
- Item-specific developmental and clinical observation guidance
- Automatic summary dashboard and visual scoring key
- Protected formulas with editable clinician input fields
- Read Me guide, license terms, and free v1.x updates
- 11-page Parent Case History Form (.docx), fully editable and ready to customize with your practice name
Single-clinician license
One-time payment. Instant download.
Get the Infant AssessmentNeed it for your clinic or team? Contact us about a group license.
Questions
What ages is this assessment designed for?
The workbook is designed for infants and young children from birth through 36 months. It calculates chronological age and, when relevant, corrected age for developmental comparisons.
Do I need specialized infant feeding training?
This tool is for licensed clinicians whose education, training, and scope of practice include infant feeding assessment. The guidance improves consistency and documentation, but it does not replace competency-based training, supervision, or medical collaboration.
What do I need to open the workbook?
Use Microsoft Excel for Windows or Mac, ideally Microsoft 365 or Excel 2016 or later. The workbook is designed and protected in Excel. The parent case history form opens in Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or Pages.
Can I add my practice name to the parent case history form?
Yes. The 11-page Parent Case History Form is a fully editable Word document (.docx). Add your practice name, logo, and contact details, adjust questions to fit your intake process, and send it to families to complete before the evaluation.
Can I use it in Google Sheets?
The file may be imported, but Google Sheets can change formatting, validation, formulas, and protection behavior. A person who owns a copied Google Sheet can also change protected ranges. For the intended experience and strongest formula protection, use the workbook in Microsoft Excel.
Is it a standardized test?
No. It is a criterion-referenced clinical framework. Its results are not norm-referenced and should not be used as a stand-alone diagnosis. Safety, respiratory, growth, and medical findings override calculated status colors.
Does this replace an instrumental swallow assessment?
No. The workbook supports clinical observation, documentation, care planning, and referral decisions. It does not replace VFSS, FEES, medical evaluation, or other instrumental assessment when clinically indicated.
Can I use it with every client?
Yes. Keep one workbook as your blank template and save a separate copy for each client. The single-clinician license allows the purchaser to use it throughout their own caseload.
Can I share the workbook with colleagues?
Each license is for one named clinician. Completed patient-specific records may be used as part of that clinician’s documentation, but the blank tool and its scoring system may not be shared. Contact us for a team or site license.
Do I get updates?
Yes. Version 1.x updates are added to your product library at no extra cost.
Make the developmental picture visible.
Get the Infant Assessment for $97© 2026 Foodology Feeding Therapy. Infant Feeding Master Evaluation Tool. All Rights Reserved. This clinical framework does not replace professional judgment, medical evaluation, or instrumental assessment.